Home / Quotes / Quote by Erica Jong

Quote by Erica Jong

“Poems, like dreams, are a sort of royal road to the unconscious. They tell you what your secret self cannot express.”

Work

This novel delves into the life and works of Sappho, an influential figure in ancient Greek literature, through a fictional narrative that intertwines historical events with poetic expression. more

Author

Erica Jong

Erica Jong is a renowned American author, born on March 26, 1942. Her works, focusing on female perspectives and sexual liberation, have gained widespread popularity. Her representative works include 'How to Be a Woman'. more

“we need poetry most at those moments when life astounds us with losses, gains, or celebrations. We need it most when we are most hurt, most happy, most downcast, most jubilant. Poetry is the language we speak in times of greatest need. And the fact that it is an endangered species in our culture tells us that we are in deep trouble.”

Needs Moments Facts Culture Speak Language Hurt Loss Trouble Gains Species Poetry Is Celebration Endangered Species

Author:Erica Jong

“I started with poetry because it was direct, immediate, and short. It was the ecstasy of striking matches in the dark.”

Dark Direct Poetry Is Ecstasy

Book:What Do Women Want?: Bread, Roses, Sex, Power

Source: What Do Women Want?: Bread, Roses, Sex, Power

“Poetry is the inner life of a culture, its nervous system, its deepest way of imagining the world. A culture that ignores its poets, chokes off its nervous system and becomes mortally ill.”

World Way Culture Poet Ill Nervous Poetry Is Choke Inner Life Nervous System

Book:Fear of Fifty

Source: Fear of Fifty

“Mediocre prose might be read as an escape, might be spoken on television by actors, or mouthed in movies. But mediocre poetry did not exist at all. If poetry wasn't good, it wasn't poetry. It was that simple.”